Related news:

The National Court of Spain acquitted all the defendants in the Russian mafia case, which had been under investigation since 2008. The lawyer of State Duma deputy Alexander Reznik, who was also a defendant, Alexander Gofshteyn, told RBC. According to him, the lawyers of the defendants were notified of the court decision a few hours ago.

“Everyone has been acquitted. Including compatriots Vladislav Reznik, Diana Gindin, and Kirril Ilyin. Pretty much all defendants in the case have been acquitted. It means that the entire case, as we reliably knew from the beginning, was an obvious frame-up. It’s a shame that it took ten years of life of worthy, respected, and innocent people, as well as their family members, to expose it. But today is an unforgettable day for them because justice has been served,” Gofshteyn said.

To recall, the main suspects in the case of money-laundering by Russian mafia were the leaders of the Tambovsko-Malyshevskaya OCG, Gennady Petrov and Alexander Malyshev. They were arrested during the Troyka operation in 2008. After getting permission to temporarily leave Spain, they went into hiding in Russia.

In February 2018, 18 out of 27 defendants, including high-ranking Russian politicians, ended up in the dock. Two defendants even made a confession statement. The investigation believes that members of the crime group had been laundering money through the creation of real estate companies in Spain. Gennady Petrov, Alexander Malyshev, and his wife Olga Solovyeva may be sentenced to 8.5 years’ imprisonment. 5 and 4.5 years, respectively, was requested for State Duma deputy Vladislav Reznik and his wife Diana Gindin.

Now the defense expects that the perpetrators of the frame-up will be “held liable according to the law.” He added that there are legal instruments able “to restore the good name and the losses incurred.” At the same time, there has been neither an official statement nor indictment by the Prosecutor's Office of Spain.